Draft gear



Sept. 8, 1925. 1,553,285

w. .H. COTTON DRAFT GEAR Filed Sept. 1. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [n yenfor: waz ("7 6061271 Patented Sept. 8, 1925.

uN-iTEo ST-AT ES PATENT oFHcE Qf;

ACORPORATION OF. ILLINOIS.

DRAFT G AR.

: Ap plication ifiled September To all whom it my ma a.-

Be a known that I, WALTER H. COTTON,

acitizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Chicago, county of Cook,and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Draft Gears, of d d p being seated, inthe released position of thewhich the following is a specification, and

which are illustrated in .the accompanying drawings, forming a partthereof gears for The invention, relates to draft railway cars-of thefriction type.

Its objects are to secure simplicity of construction coupled with highefliciency,

and it' consists of a structure 'such as is hereinafter described, andisill'ustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig.1 is acentral plan section of'the gear,

cer'tain'part's ofthe ca'rframe bein shown indetail;

V Fig. 2 is a plan View ofthe 'gear'as applied to acar, showing-thegear. compressed; the,

gear is shown partly in plan and partl'yfin central section; 1 p I Fig,3 is a detail" side elevation of the gear and coupling,a partof'the gearbeing shown in central vertical section; and I Fig, 4; is asectionaldetail on the line 4-4:

I of Fig. 1.

There is represented} at 1() 10 aipai'r of center or draft sills of arailway car, each being provided with the usual draft lugs 11-11 andbuifing lugs 12 12. f

Thebutt end of a coupler bar is shown at 13, and its extensio tail-strapor yoke 51 1314:-

The parts thus far mentioned are of any desired or ordinary constructionand'form no part of the invention. j v

The improved draft gear comprisesa folllower 15, of the chambered type,having side walls 16, 17 and top andbottom walls 18,

Y '19; Opposed 'tolthe followenlo iis a plate follower 20. As the gear'is shown the follower 15 cooperates with. the'draft lugs 11, 11 and thefollower 20 with the buffing lugs 12, 12. The relative positions of thetwo followers may however be reversed without affectingthe operation ofthe gear..

The inner face of the follower 20 "is fiat and against it are seated twosubstantially triangular wedge blocks 21, 22, the adjacent angles of thetwo blocks however being cut away to provide flat meeting faces for therthe -plate 2 1.

formed on the top and bottom walls 18, 19, of the. follower 1-5, forlimiting .theinwa rdf gears compress.

1, 19231' sci-mi No. e60, 501.'

' blocks when the gear is in normal or're gear, against a plate 24 whichconstitutes-a spring seat. vFriction blocks 25, 26 are seatedagainst theside walls 16,, 17, of the follower 15 and have inclined" faces eom'plernentary to and bearing against the outer faces of the wedge blocks21, 22; In the released position of the-gear the outer ends of theblocks 25, 26, projectinto and to the I bottom of recesses 28, 29 formedin" the inner face of the follower 20.

The outer faces of the blocks 25, 26, bear against the sidewalls 16, 17,of thefollower 15,- and their inner'endsl bearupon the plate 24.Springs, shown as two-sets of nestedhelicals, 30, 31,. are interposedand react between the end-wall of'the follower 15 and Stop-shoulders32',- 33, are

movement of the wedge block 23 as the distance from the bloek' 23 in.the normal position of'the gear, though if desired the block may beseatednormally against them.

Theshoulders 32, 33, may, as shown, con

v Preferably, as shown in Fig. '3,'fthe'se' shoulders are spaced a shortst-itute; the ends of depressed portions of f .-the walls ,18, 19, whichextend; to the end wall of the follower" 15. By this configuration ofthewalls'the shoulders are greatly strengthened f'and any tendency to breakoff that mightexist if stop lugs were used? is obviated.

When the wedge-block23 and the shoulw v .dei's 32, 33, are normally outof engagement, 1 all of the wedging and friction elements move together.until the parts named make contact, the resistance of the initialcompression of the gear being only that afforded by the sprin s. I v pWhen the block 23 is in or comes into en gagement with the shoulders 32,33, its

22, and the follower 20, and between the outer faces of the shoes 25,26, and the side walls of the follower 15.

When the compressive stresses are relieved the parts return to normalposition,

I as shown in Fig. 1, by reason of the expansion of the springs. Theaction is the same in both draft and bufling.

The. gear is easily assembled, is simple and v comparatively cheap ofconstruction, no

machining of the parts being required.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed, changes ofdetail may be made without departing from its scope. I claim as myinvention: v 1. A draft gear comprising, in combina tion, a chamberedfollower, a plate follower, a pair of triangular wedge blocks seatedagainst the plate follower, a pair of friction blocks engageable withthe sidewalls of the chambered follower and having inclined facesengaging the wedge blocks, a wedge block interposed between thetriangular blocks, spring means resisting longitudinal movement of thefriction blocks, and stops limiting relative'movement faces engaging theouter faces of the triangular blocks, a wedge block interposed betweenthe triangular blocks, and stops for limiting relative movement of thechambered follower and the last-named wedge block during the compressivemovement of the gear.

3. A draft gear comprising in combination a chambered follower, aspringhoused 7 within the chamber and reacting against its end wall, a plateforming a seat for the opposite end of the spring, an opposed follower,a pair of triangular wedge blocks slidably engaging the inner face ofthe op posed follower, a pair of friction blocks seated against theplate and side walls of the chambered follower and having inclined facesengaging the outer faces of the triangular blocks, a wedge blockinterposed between the triangular blocks, and stops for limitingrelative movement of the chambered follower and the last-named wedgeblock, such stops being normally spaced from the blocks.

1. In a draft gear, in combination, a chambered follower havingforwardly facing shoulders on two of its longitudinal walls, an opposedfollower, -wedgin'g friction shoes engaging longitudinal walls of thechambered'follower, springs reacting between the shoes and the endwall'of the chambered follower, a pair of'triangular wedge-blocksslidably engaging the opposed follower and inclined faces'o f the shoes,and a wedge block loosely interposed between the triangular blocks andengageable with the forwardly directed shoulders.

5. A draft gear comprising, in combination, a chambered follower, aplate follower, a pair of triangular wedge blocks seated against theplate follower, a pair of friction blocks engageable with the side wallsof the chambered follower and having in clined faces engaging the wedge.blocks,'a wedge. block interposed'between the triangular blocks, springmeans resisting longitudinal movement of the friction blocks, and apositive seat carried by and extending across the chambered follower.for the' interposed wedge block.

'6, The combination in a draft gear of a chambered follower havingforwardly facingshoulders near its inner end, an opposed plate follower,a air of triangular wedge-blocks seated against the plate folr, a Pairof friction blocks seated it against side walls of the chamberedfollower and having inclined faces. engaging" the triangular blocks, awedge-block intere posed between the triangular blocks and engageable bythe shoulders on the conipressive movement of the gear, and aspring'resisting longiudinal movement of the shoes into the chamberedfollower.

WALTER H. GOTTQN.

